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[AstroLad]

Played three games of Agricola and three games of Dominion over the weekend. It was tough picking between the two because we're pretty obsessed with both at the moment. Actually got to do a game with each of the E, I, and K decks in Agricola. Think I is my favorite; seem to get the "cleanest" farms out of I cards whereas E and K seem to leave me wanting at times (in a couple of plays, so not a big sample size).

Also finally started seriously playing with random kingdom cards in Dominion, using the free iPhone app picking cards from all three sets and the promos, and requiring cards of cost 2-5. Has worked incredibly well so far. But man I love Seaside so much. Those cards are just so fun. Really, really can't wait for Alchemy just so we can get some more cards into the mix.

 

[platypotamus]

Actually got to do a game with each of the E, I, and K decks in Agricola.

I usually end up just throwing them all together.

What sort of card dealing mechanic are you using? My group likes the suggestion in the manual to deal 10 of each and then discard your 3 unwanted cards of each type. More likely to end up with a synergy or two, and set goals for yourself.

 

[AstroLad]

I usually end up just throwing them all together.

What sort of card dealing mechanic are you using? My group likes the suggestion in the manual to deal 10 of each and then discard your 3 unwanted cards of each type. More likely to end up with a synergy or two, and set goals for yourself.

I was going to do that, but the consensus on BGG seems to be that it's best to keep them separate, especially I whose interactive mechanics apparently get too "watered down" with a fully mixed deck.. Supposedly K has more "powerful" cards too so that can make for some unbalances games based on the deals. Not sure how true any of that really is, we actually had a harder time with our K cards than in any of our previous games but that could be due to a variety of factors.

Dealing the 10 is interesting, maybe we'll try that. For now we just do the 7 of each all around.

Ooh drafting looks like it could be fun.

Almost tempted to try out Le Havre pretty soon.

 

[Artadius]

So me and some friends finally officially started our boardgame group here in town and had our first session last night. We plan on (for now) doing this once a month since most of us all have families and kids (that are, as of yet, not boardgamers also so we we're easing our significant others into the idea of us being out of pocket one night out of the month. Yeah, I know, not really a big deal, but we gotta start somewhere. I'm hoping we get the S.O.'s more involved soon though and who knows, maybe we'll be playing more often eventually. I hope so at least.

I've put together a Google Site for our group to keep track of our calendar of sessions and track/log the sessions as they go so we have a historical journal of sorts to look back on. Will be neat especially if this takes off and we get more and more people involved.

We played the WoW Boardgame since all four of us are recovering WoW addicts and it interested us the most. We really don't have a large collection of games in our group (yet, hopefully will change soon) so pickings were slim anyways.

Here's the writeup I posted on our site earlier. Wall of text, skip if you're not at all interested in World of Warcraft: The Board Game by Fantasy Flight.

So we played some World of Warcraft: The Board Game for our first session. Game seemed like a real hit with everyone. Two of us (Trinity and myself) have already played the game before. Jonathan and Chris were coming in as newbies so we knew we'd get off to a bit of a slow start. I didn't help things by running late and not getting a chance to setup the board and everything else ahead of time so the first half hour or so was simply handing out cards and setting up pieces.

First thing we did was lay out our teams. I thought it would be best if Trinity and I were on different teams since we had played before. Chris teamed up with me on Alliance and Jonathan with Trinity 'for the Horde'. We then chose characters. Jon chose first with the Troll Rogue. Chris went next and picked the Gnome Mage. Trinity picked third and nabbed the Undead Warlock and then I drafted last and went with the Dorf Huntard. First time for me to play a hunter in WoWBG and I have to say, it was a good experience.

The game started off rough for Chris and I as the alliance. We both got defeated pretty handily in solo encounters nearby Southshore due to the fact that at that low a level and so little gear and skills, just a bad dice or two will completely destroy any chance you have at killing mobs. We thankfully pulled it together though after that by grouping up from then on out. The Horde, on the other hand, started very well, rolling through their first couple of quests and setting themselves up nicely with decent loot and a quick level up.

Things turned around quickly though after that. The Horde players had a short run of bad luck thanks to a particularly nasty blue Wight in the Western Plaguelands which proceeded to curse them both into oblivion and, eventually, death. After that, they had to spin their wheels a bit to regroup and push through some poor quest mob and blocking blue creature placement. This gave the Alliance players a big opening thanks to some VERY favorable quest placement. Chris and I had five to six quests all lined up within five spaces of Southshore in Green and Yellow quest cards allowing us to spend the next eight to ten turns powering our levels up to almost five (max level).

The only downside to this approach was the fact that since we weren't hitting some of the more difficult quests in the Hinterlands and the Plaguelands, we were not getting as good of quest rewards as we could have been getting (in terms of gold and magic items). I didn't even have a fully stocked character sheet until turn 27. We had to divert to an ultra difficult level 5 quest in the Hinterlands simply for the purple loot and money. This setback in terms of money and loot allowed the Horde players to gradually catch up and since they were traveling further out of their comfort zone than we had at the same point in their advancement... they had a bit better gear than we did. This also had allowed them to check three of the possible five potential Kazzak (final boss) locations on the board.

By the time the Alliance felt comfortable with their gear, the Horde was max level as well and were ready to take on Kazzak. We actually sped up the game at this point because it was approaching the six hour mark (side note, this game is way too long... good thing its fun though). I asked the Horde if they already knew where Kazzak was and if so, to go ahead and let them take the crack at him first. They did and proceeded to fight the Overlord to attempt to win the game. Kazzak seems like the easiest of the three Overlords, his special abilities aren't particularly nasty unless you have a very shitty roll (lots of ones and twos). The Horde characters managed to down Kazzak at the end of the second turn of combat... but only barely. They both had one health left each. Two fewer defense or melee hits would have resulted in their demise.

For shits and giggles, the Alliance characters fought him as well and also managed to kill him two rounds. The only difference was that we didn't lose a single HP to him and, to be honest, demolished him easily on the second round... probably a good five to ten points of damage overkill if we would have rolled it all out. The last couple of high level quests we did to gear us up really put us over the top and proved to turn our mediocre level five characters into epicly geared boss killers. The only problem was that we didn't know were Kazzak was yet and the Horde did. WoWBG is, ultimately, a race to the end (we did not want to end the game on turn 30 with the PvP battle to determine winner... that is pretty lame so we set houserule that the winning side HAD to kill the Overlord). While I have no doubt that our characters would have demolished the Horde, they won because they won the race and just barely had what it took to kill Kazzak in the end... and that's what counts.

The Awesome:

* Our first session for our group. I think we've got a good thing going here.
* We're all former WoW players... so we all like the lore and characters of the game. The board game is a nice addiction soother.
* Teaming up and owning the crap out of epic monsters like Drakes and Infernals feels pretty awesome... especially when you're using epic gear you remember from the MMO.

The Not-so-Awesome:

* 40 pages of rules which are overly wordy and somewhat unfriendly to new boardgamers (no, not all boardgames are like this).
* 6 hour boardgames are a drag... at least the game is satisfying.
* Keeping track of your characters (how many dice you roll and all the cool stuff you can do) is pretty difficult, especially because you're trying your best to make sure you're not taking too much time to complete your move. We had a couple of turns where we did two combat actions in one turn and I could tell that sucked for the other team because it took so long.

Final Verdict: Game: 6 out of 10 -- Session: 8 out of 10

Next month we're going to be playing Pandemic. It'll be nice to go from the WoWBG 6 hour monster to the ~1 hour Pandemic game. Yay.

I also did research to see if I had a FLGS in town (Corpus Christi, TX) and we really don't. There is one 'gamer' type store which does sell alot of Magic and other collectible card game stuff and has a rather large computer area for folks to play WoW and other online games at... but their stock of boardgames is pretty bad. Usual suspects like Catan and Carcassone. Their prices weren't that good either so I can't really see myself shopping there. We have a Barnes and Noble with an 'ok' selection and I can of course order from them... but it'd be better for me to just order off the web from Thoughthammer or Amazon to be honest. What a shame.

 

[platypotamus]

Almost tempted to try out Le Havre pretty soon.

Wife and I play this 2P a lot. It's a bit long for my usual group so we haven't played with more. Still: love it. Perhaps too many fiddly bits to keep track of at times though.

Next month we're going to be playing Pandemic. It'll be nice to go from the WoWBG 6 hour monster to the ~1 hour Pandemic game. Yay.

My wife randomly brought this home from work today. One of her coworkers (who we've gamed with once) wants me to learn the rules so we can play it. I think she grossly overestimates the learning the rules timeframe, as I've already read the instructions and think I'm ready to play. Looks pretty awesome, and I know it's been praised a lot in this thread.

 

[HappyBivouac]

Picked up Citadels over the weekend, but only got one game in with all the other stuff going on. Really fun game, and I can see how after several more things are going to get pretty tricky. Lots of potential for short but really interesting sessions.

 

[Zalasta]

I guess I'm looking for a mean co-op game.

Cutthroat Caverns. I believe that one fits your criteria. Not a lot of titles like that though, at least not within the realm of true co-op.

I think she grossly overestimates the learning the rules timeframe, as I've already read the instructions and think I'm ready to play.

Well, Pandemic was designed as a entry level boardgame. However, in general boardgame rules are notoriously bad, so they could be very intimidating for people not familiar with the hobby. I do my share of rules reading while learning new games with other people, but I much prefer being taught by someone who played or at least have gone through the rules beforehand.

 

[ToddG15]

So who registered for GenCon events over the weekend? It was a lot of work juggling 5-6 people's schedules and interests (registered myself and my friends that I've talked into attending GenCon) but overall we got into almost every event we wanted and are pretty pumped. We're especially excited for True Dungeon, as that looks so freakin' awesome!

 

[AstroLad]

Actually never having been to GenCon before I'd kinda like some guidance on the Events system. For example hey RoboRally great! Are we just paying to play basically? I realize there are some events that are super specialized but we're generally more interested in eurogaming.

 

[AstroLad]

Had to get my Alchemy preorder in. Alchemy is a game I need DAY ONE more so than any video game in recent memory. And I wound up doing the usual "now I have to get to $100!" dance.

Le Havre Board Game
Le Havre: Le Grand Hameau
Dominion: Alchemy Expansion
Agricola: Farmers of the Moor Expansion

 

[Cyan]

Next month we're going to be playing Pandemic. It'll be nice to go from the WoWBG 6 hour monster to the ~1 hour Pandemic game. Yay.

Probably a good bit less than than an hour once you've learned the rules. Especially if you start getting hit with outbreaks early. :/

But damn, I can't even imagine playing a 6-hour boardgame, that's nuts. Would never fly in my group. Or wait, maybe I should rephrase that--a 6-hour game in one sitting is nuts. Back in high school, my buddies and I used to have games of Diplomacy that lasted weeks.

 

[ToddG15]

Actually never having been to GenCon before I'd kinda like some guidance on the Events system. For example hey RoboRally great! Are we just paying to play basically? I realize there are some events that are super specialized but we're generally more interested in eurogaming.

That's basically the gest of it. You can register for events (you can sign yourself up and any of your linked "friends" in the system) and then pay whatever fee the event charges, most of which is just a few bucks unless it's a high production/props/make and take it type of event.

You can still register for events online currently, though I'm sure a lot of events are now filled. In that case, you can buy "generic tickets" which are effectively GenCon event currency. A generic costs $2 and is worth $2. You could check in at the event before it start and see if someone doesn't show up and pay with the generic tickets to sit in for the absentee. I've also heard some people have really good luck just talking to the GM and mentioning your enthusiasm for the game but you missed the chance to register and sometimes they'll find a spot for you.

Additionally, there's the dealer hall which has tons of vendors with employees demo'ing their games and letting you try stuff out there.

There's also the gencon board game library, where you can borrow one game at a time per pass you have. The pass is an all day pass and only costs 8, so that's also a good deal if you know specific games you just want to play and don't wanna bring all the boards with you.

Aside from that stuff, there are areas designate for open play, so you could always bring your games and set up shop without specific events.

 

[Artadius]

Probably a good bit less than than an hour once you've learned the rules. Especially if you start getting hit with outbreaks early. :/

But damn, I can't even imagine playing a 6-hour boardgame, that's nuts. Would never fly in my group. Or wait, maybe I should rephrase that--a 6-hour game in one sitting is nuts. Back in high school, my buddies and I used to have games of Diplomacy that lasted weeks.

I imagine the only reason why it flew in our group is because most of the group just doesn't even know better :lol

Once they get a taste of the better paced games with short playtimes, they'll probably never look back.

 

[AstroLad]

That's basically the gest of it. You can register for events (you can sign yourself up and any of your linked "friends" in the system) and then pay whatever fee the event charges, most of which is just a few bucks unless it's a high production/props/make and take it type of event.

Thanks, so what did you all dudes sign up for? Just so I can get a sense of what's worth it. It's weird to me, the buy-in for let's say Robo Rally is just for a single game? Not even as part of a tournament or anything? soconfused.gif

 

[spikydavid]

So any of yous guys play Dungeon Lords yet? By the same designer as Through the Ages (*SWOOOOOOOOON*) and ranked in the thirties at BGG. Reviews sound pretty positive and it looks pretty promising, like Dungeon Keeper in board game form. I know some of you guys are big Galaxy Trucker fans (and I want that eventually too), but anything with "Trucker" in the name will be a tougher sell to my wife than this Dungeon one, even considering TTA. After two games find their way into her heart, she'll play any thing he puts out at least once

Not played it yet, but definitely on my list - couple of friends played it last week and enjoyed it - so a weak recommendation

 

[GDJustin]

Why do BGs have to be so expensive? Wife and I have had nothing but Carcassonne and Dominion base set (with the occasional Lost Cities) since last fall - but I have 0 budget for anything new.

The two I've had my eye on, Small World and Stone age, are $39 and $35 respectively. Ticket to ride is $39 too, which I've been considering lately (one more gateway for the wife before diving into more serious stuff).

I know that if these games will get years of play that's cheap in the scheme of things. It just sucks to be getting more into eurogames at the exact same time your personal finances are in a crunch :lol

 

[AstroLad]

www.coolstuffinc.com (about $5-10 cheaper than most other places)

 

[Artadius]

www.coolstuffinc.com (about $5-10 cheaper than most other places)

Damn, wish I would have known about that place earlier, great prices and look like they have reasonable and prompt shipping. Rewards program is a bonus too.

 

[AstroLad]

Yeah, afaik they've pretty much taken over online board-game sales, at least in the U.S. My only concern is that others shut down and they start to jack up their prices but so far so good.
* 7th 3.0% 10.0% $1000.00 - $1999.99
8th 4.0% 12.5% $2000.00 - $4999.99
9th 5.0% 15.0% $5000.00 -
* = your current level
Total to date = $1751.71 (Reward level does not include shipping.)

 

[StoOgE]

So yesterday I got my little brother int TTR.

I volunteer with Big Brothers, Big Sisters and needed something to do that was cheap since I don't get paid till Thursday and decided to make a pizza and play TTR. We had to play it 3 times until he won, but he really seemed to like it.

I may try him out on a few others.. but I don't want to get into anything crazy complicated with a 10 year old.

 

[GDJustin]

www.coolstuffinc.com (about $5-10 cheaper than most other places)

This really isn't true, though. Coolstuffinc is only cheaper if you get the free shipping with $100 orders. If you buy games one game at a time, it's more than Amazon.

My whole post was about boardgaming being somewhat expensive, so that certainly means I can't afford $100 orders Unless I only make one of them a quarter, or something.

 

[AstroLad]

just trying to help!

i would also recommend thrift stores, you can find some great games there new and old apparently. looking at the weekly bgg thread, people find amazing shit in there all the time. and i'm guessing newer games even are starting to trickle in. not to mention the possibility of getting used games on ebay or bgg marketplace (where you can always haggle in my experience)

 

[BattleMonkey]

Yeah, afaik they've pretty much taken over online board-game sales, at least in the U.S. My only concern is that others shut down and they start to jack up their prices but so far so good.
* 7th 3.0% 10.0% $1000.00 - $1999.99
8th 4.0% 12.5% $2000.00 - $4999.99
9th 5.0% 15.0% $5000.00 -
* = your current level
Total to date = $1751.71 (Reward level does not include shipping.)

They won't, while they are cheaper, they don't offer much else other than board games. And if you ever been to their actual store/warehouse in Orlando, it really is not all that big. They just found a niche with board games, but have never been able to succeed at other stuff like miniatures. Their South Florida branch for example is mainly all CCGs.

 

[AstroLad]

yeah i've heard that their online bg business is by far their biggest. not a surprise though considering how huge it's become in such a short time

 

[UpperCaseN]

Hey guys, I have a question about a rule for LNOE, it's about Johnny's "Blitz" ability. I know there's a forum on BGG, but I don't want to make an account there. So let's say Johnny is outside, and there are 3 zombies in front of him, 1 in each square for 3 squares. For movement, he rolls a 5. Can he run and Blitz straight through all 3 zombies? Like move into space 1, fight and kill zombie. Continue into space 2, fight and kill zombie. And the same for space 3.

How about this small twist, what if there's more than 1 zombie in 1 of the squares? Let's say it goes 3, 1, 1 across 3 squares. When he blitzes through that square, does he blitz fight all 3, then continue into the next square and fight, then the next square and fight?

This thread on BGG is answered by Jason Hill himself (guy who made the game) but it's slightly different than my question, this one has Johnny blitzing a zombie, losing, then circling back and landing on that spot (rather than running through it again) to fight the zombie during his regular fight phase.

 

[ToddG15]

Thanks, so what did you all dudes sign up for? Just so I can get a sense of what's worth it. It's weird to me, the buy-in for let's say Robo Rally is just for a single game? Not even as part of a tournament or anything? soconfused.gif

Some events are part of larger tournaments, it just depends on the event (it should be listed on the event description). I believe a minimal costs is there to compensate the GM a little for taking the time to host the event and to try to hold people to their registered commitments, since they are effectively wasting their money if they don't show up, that way events don't get canceled last minute due to lack of attendees.

I'm registered for:
True Dungeon
Cosmic Encounter
Arkham Horror w/Dunwich
Last Night on Earth
Settlers of Catan
Shadows Over Camelot
Dominion w/ Seaside
Munchkin
Runewars
Doctor Who: Starward Dreams RPG
Beginner Mini Painting

 

[platypotamus]

Why do BGs have to be so expensive? Wife and I have had nothing but Carcassonne and Dominion base set (with the occasional Lost Cities) since last fall - but I have 0 budget for anything new.

What helps me a lot is to compare the cost to video games, and the amount of fun/playtime (originally typed as platytime!) I get from each. I really get my money's worth out of my board games.

Of course, at this point, I pretty much only play freeware games, or buy games on sale or old games that are cheap, so the board games do tend to cost more upfront

 

[Zalasta]

Why do BGs have to be so expensive? Wife and I have had nothing but Carcassonne and Dominion base set (with the occasional Lost Cities) since last fall - but I have 0 budget for anything new.

A few suggestions:

1. All boardgame buyers should use Boardgameprices.com. It's not a comprehensive list (Thoughthammer is not on it for some reason), but it'll usually give you an idea of where the cheapest online price is.

2. You can always trade for games, either with ones you no longer enjoy or even video games or DVD. Boardgamegeek math trades allow you to accomplish that. Recently I got a copy of Kingsburg + expansion with a used New Super Mario Bros Wii. That's like a $55 bundle for a game I bought for $40 (which only had a trade-in value of $38).

 

[AstroLad]

Sorry Gryph, haven't played LNOE recently enough to answer your question. I know there is one huge LNOE fan here, maybe he can help. (You should register for BGG though!)

In other news, the Alchemy cardlist from BGG:

Vineyard
Victory
1P
Worth 1 VP for every three Action cards in your deck (rounded down).

Alchemist
Action
1P3C
+2 Cards, +1 Action. When you discard this from play, you may put this on top of your deck if you have a Potion in play.

Potion
Treasure
4C
Worth 1 Potion

Possession
Action
1P6C
The player to your left takes an extra turn after this one, in which you can see all cards he can and make all decisions for him. Any card he would gain on that turn, you gain instead; any cards of his that are trashed are set aside and returned to his discard pile at the end of turn.

Herbalist
Action
2C
+1 Coin, +1 Buy. When you discard this from play, you may put one of your Treasures from play on top of your deck.

Philosopher's Stone
Treasure
1P3C
When you play this, count your deck and discard pile. Worth 1 Coin per 5 Cards total between them (rounded down).

University
Action
1P2C
+2 Actions. You may gain an Action card costing up to 5 Coins.

Scrying Pool
Action-Attack
1P2C
Each player (including you) reveals the top card of his deck and either discards it or puts it back, your choice. Then reveal cards from the top of your deck until you reveal one that is not an Action. Put all of your revealed cards into your hand.

Transmute
Action
1P
Trash a card from your hand. If it is an. . . Action card, gain a Duchy; Treasure card, gain a Transmute; Victory card, gain a Gold.

Apothecary
Action
1P2C
+1 Card, +1 Action. Reveal the top 4 cards of your deck. Put the revealed Coppers and Potions into your hand. Put the other cards back on top of your deck in any order.

Apprentice
Action
5C
+1 Action. Trash a card from your hand. Plus 1 Card per Coin it costs. +2 Cards if it has a Potion in its cost.

Familiar
Action-Attack
1P3C
+1 Card, +1 Action. Each other player gains a Curse.

Golem
Action
1P4C
Reveal cards from your deck until you reveal 2 Action cards other than a Golem card. Discard the other cards, then play the Action cards in either order.

Seems pretty focused on helping out action-heavy strategies (take that Big Money and most of its "efficient" variants!). Possession will be fun.

 

[Gunstarheroes]

So any of yous guys play Dungeon Lords yet? By the same designer as Through the Ages (*SWOOOOOOOOON*) and ranked in the thirties at BGG. Reviews sound pretty positive and it looks pretty promising, like Dungeon Keeper in board game form. I know some of you guys are big Galaxy Trucker fans (and I want that eventually too), but anything with "Trucker" in the name will be a tougher sell to my wife than this Dungeon one, even considering TTA. After two games find their way into her heart, she'll play any thing he puts out at least once

First off, i've been board gaming for a while, since last year, and was just told by a few other members this thread existed and had to join in on this place.

As for Dungeon Lords, i've played about 5 games now and while its a great game at points, i have my issues with it. First, playing with anything but 4 people sucks. Its hard to explain in words exactly how, but you have a phantom player who takes up resource spots and stuff if you aren't playing with 4, not to mention other little annoyances. Second, one wrong move can really end the game for you. For how long the game takes, one bad special event or resource mistake can really break the game and leave you out of contention before the game ever really picks up for you. Third, its really a solo game dressed in multiplayer, in that the only real interaction had with players is seeing what resources to go after. After that, you get your resources and deal with your dungeons and combat without any real interactions with your fellow players. Depending on the group, this is either fine or kinda boring. Still, its a very cool concept that still leads to relatively fun games.

Edit: Without reading through this whole thing, do any of you know or play BrettSpielWelt. Its an online game client, and though i really don't play anything but Dominion on there, its really cool for people who can't get together to play it online. The website itself has english, though most people are european, it might be really cool to play some stuff online with other Gaffers here.

 

[GDJustin]

Sorry Gryph, haven't played LNOE recently enough to answer your question. I know there is one huge LNOE fan here, maybe he can help. (You should register for BGG though!)

In other news, the Alchemy cardlist from BGG:

Seems pretty focused on helping out action-heavy strategies (take that Big Money and most of its "efficient" variants!). Possession will be fun.

That's 13 cards - not a full list, is it? I know Alchemy is smaller/cheaper than Inrigue and Seaside...

Anyway, I don't know that I really understand the Potion mechanic? So the potion is a treasure card you buy with 4C, and it provides +1 potion (obviously), but not + any amount of treasure? So basically you have to choose to buy one instead of a silver?

All these cards requiring potions... it seems like you'll have to stuff your deck full of potions for this to work at all. In which case you'll have less money. And it would suck to draw potions but no cards to use them.


ORRR are we assuming that a potion is semi-permanent? Like if you draw one, you can play it, and it sits on the table through turns until it is "used" by a card, and then it's discarded? That would certainly make a lot more sense, based on this card list. Players could build up a little stockpile of potions to use...

Edit: another option would be for a Potion to be worth 1 potion OR 2 copper. Then it could be used as a normal treasure. It would be a slightly more expensive silver... the tax being there because of the added potion functionality.

 

[Zalasta]

Edit: Without reading through this whole thing, do any of you know or play BrettSpielWelt. Its an online game client, and though i really don't play anything but Dominion on there, its really cool for people who can't get together to play it online. The website itself has english, though most people are european, it might be really cool to play some stuff online with other Gaffers here.

I gave up on BSW a while ago. Rampant cheating and elitism turned me off. I decided I don't need to play boardgames that badly to put up with the kind of behavior I've witnessed.

BTW, for those that are interested in upcoming new games, I would check out geeklists for the Gathering of Friends for early impressions and reports. It's usually a good gauge of stuff that will be making a debut later in Essen this year.

 

[AstroLad]

I did BSW for a couple of days, but the interface was really bad and user-unfriendly so I didn't do much other than play a few games of Lost Cities (which I don't even like, but it's simple!). I'd be open to trying it again though, especially if it's been streamlined a touch. The most success we've had here is many, many games of RFTG on Genie. Asynchronicity just seems to work really well. Also a few games, and a few aborted games, of T&E on BGG.

Edit: another option would be for a Potion to be worth 1 potion OR 2 copper. Then it could be used as a normal treasure. It would be a slightly more expensive silver... the tax being there because of the added potion functionality.

I haven't spoiled the game for myself at all beyond reading that card list this morning, so I can't answer your questions but I did have the same thoughts. I also wonder how well such cards will do when mixed into the big random pile with every other card. Most of the existing cards seem to work well still, although every random deck will have a handful of clunkers.

 

[Gunstarheroes]

I did BSW for a couple of days, but the interface was really bad and user-unfriendly so I didn't do much other than play a few games of Lost Cities (which I don't even like, but it's simple!). I'd be open to trying it again though, especially if it's been streamlined a touch. The most success we've had here is many, many games of RFTG on Genie. Asynchronicity just seems to work really well. Also a few games, and a few aborted games, of T&E on BGG.

I haven't spoiled the game for myself at all beyond reading that card list this morning, so I can't answer your questions but I did have the same thoughts. I also wonder how well such cards will do when mixed into the big random pile with every other card. Most of the existing cards seem to work well still, although every random deck will have a handful of clunkers.

For me, the things that spawn curses really bring the game down for most of my Dominion games. Besides that, most of my games work out really well. Last night we had a set with Throne Room, Thief, Feast, Cellar, Adventurer, Library, Chancellor, Militia, Laboratory, and
Council Room. Getting the other expansions in the next few weeks excluding Alchemy.

 

[GDJustin]

Re: potions - for some crazy reason (It's not on the card text anywhere so I don't know where I pulled it from) I thought potions were consumed when PLAYING an action. But they're actually like any other treasure - you spend a potion to BUY an action. So if you drew a hand with a potion and no other treasure, you could buy a Transmute.

This very-obvious realization changes my opinion of the expansion somewhat... it doesn't seem quite as weird now.

It's still not a great first impression, though. This basically means that Potions are a special, expansion-specific currency.

- If future expansions have potion-requiring Actions, players would need to have Alchemy to use them, so this seems unlikely.
- So if future expansions never reference Potions again, Alchemy will exist in a pretty weird Dominion space.

They just set a bad precedent. I don't want more expansions released that have a specialized currency that is only used for that expansion's cards.

 

[Gunstarheroes]

Re: potions - for some crazy reason (It's not on the card text anywhere so I don't know where I pulled it from) I thought potions were consumed when PLAYING an action. But they're actually like any other treasure - you spend a potion to BUY an action. So if you drew a hand with a potion and no other treasure, you could buy a Transmute.

This very-obvious realization changes my opinion of the expansion somewhat... it doesn't seem quite as weird now.

It's still not a great first impression, though. This basically means that Potions are a special, expansion-specific currency.

- If future expansions have potion-requiring Actions, players would need to have Alchemy to use them, so this seems unlikely.
- So if future expansions never reference Potions again, Alchemy will exist in a pretty weird Dominion space.

They just set a bad precedent. I don't want more expansions released that have a specialized currency that is only used for that expansion's cards.

That's why they try things. If this idea isn't well received, i highly doubt seeing this happening again.

Also, they are re-printing Betrayal At The House On The Hill. So pumped about that.

 

[UpperCaseN]

Sorry Gryph, haven't played LNOE recently enough to answer your question. I know there is one huge LNOE fan here, maybe he can help. (You should register for BGG though!)

All good, looks like I'll have to make an account on BGG then. Well at least my question is already typed out here on GAF, so all I need to do is copy and paste! This was my plan all along, mwahaha

 

[AMUSIX]

Not sure if it's been mentioned here yet, or if everyone just thinks it sucks, but my wife and I have recently gotten into Gloom as our travel game. It's played with a deck of plastic cards, so it's very easy to transport, and works well with two players (but is also great with 4).

Essentially, you have a family of 5, and you play cards to lower their pathos or to raise the pathos of your opponent's family members. The object is to kill off your family with as low a pathos as possible. So far the game has proven to be very fun, and there's a nice variety of cards that have made sure that, even if someone is dominating, a win from behind is still possible. And, a benefit in my book, close games are not uncommon (my wife beat me by a single point last time).

In the picture above, 'the hands' are playing the red family, with one dead, with the green family (to the left) and the yellow family (to the right) having only one member still living each. Essentially, 'the hands' are screwed.
(image stolen from RPG.net)

 

[jepense]

In other news, the Alchemy cardlist from BGG:

Seems pretty focused on helping out action-heavy strategies (take that Big Money and most of its "efficient" variants!). Possession will be fun.

Just saw this myself. The cards seems really powerful - but of course they have to be to make getting potions worth it. Need it nao!

 

[Evlar]

Wow. Transmute is crazy.

 

[jepense]

Re: potions - for some crazy reason (It's not on the card text anywhere so I don't know where I pulled it from) I thought potions were consumed when PLAYING an action. But they're actually like any other treasure - you spend a potion to BUY an action. So if you drew a hand with a potion and no other treasure, you could buy a Transmute.

This very-obvious realization changes my opinion of the expansion somewhat... it doesn't seem quite as weird now.

It's still not a great first impression, though. This basically means that Potions are a special, expansion-specific currency.

- If future expansions have potion-requiring Actions, players would need to have Alchemy to use them, so this seems unlikely.
- So if future expansions never reference Potions again, Alchemy will exist in a pretty weird Dominion space.

They just set a bad precedent. I don't want more expansions released that have a specialized currency that is only used for that expansion's cards.

Uh, it was revealed a long time ago that potions were a different currency. And it's a pretty good bet that potions will not be used by any other expansion, and that no other "special currency" will appear in further expansions. This doesn't make it weird. I believe Donald has said, for instance, that durations are a Seaside thing, and won't appear (much?) in other sets.

As for the mechanic itself, to me it seems interesting and worth building an expansion around. Obviously I don't think potions are cool just for the sake of having them. Since potions won't contribute to getting normal VP, and buying them first slows down the process of buying potion-costing cards, it allows for some super good actions without effective power creep with respect to the previous sets. And having super good actions (especially actions that directly support action-heavy decks, like it seems) changes the pace of the game - something I consider a good property in an expansion.

Of course I'll need to play and see for myself first, but my first impression for Alchemy is better than e.g. for Intrigue.

 

[AstroLad]

I love Durations.

My only thought is do you need to have several Potion-using cards in order for it to make purchasing Potions worthwhile. Maybe not and they're independently good enough to justify the cost and trouble in most cases. One thing I noticed though is that there are no 2P-cost cards, and just in general (and certainly in this set) there aren't too many +Buys, so getting stuck with two or more potions in a hand could be pretty rough. I have faith though.

 

[GDJustin]

I love Durations.

My only thought is do you need to have several Potion-using cards in order for it to make purchasing Potions worthwhile. Maybe not and they're independently good enough to justify the cost and trouble in most cases. One thing I noticed though is that there are no 2P-cost cards, and just in general (and certainly in this set) there aren't too many +Buys, so getting stuck with two or more potions in a hand could be pretty rough. I have faith though.

With a deck-thinning card in play one potion per deck could be enough. Heck one might be enough even without thinning your deck. How many potion action cards do you think you're gonna buy?

Keep in mind that every potion you buy is preventing you from buying a silver, or a VP. So in the late-game, potions become useless... they exist solely to pick up powerful actions.

I've been thinking about it all day and I've come back around to thinking that the potion mechanic might be OK. If you buy one early on (maybe a potion/silver for an opening 4/3 split?), then you'll get that potion once per shuffle, and can use it to nab 4-5 nice actions, and that's probably sufficient for an entire game.

 

[jepense]

I love Durations.

My only thought is do you need to have several Potion-using cards in order for it to make purchasing Potions worthwhile. Maybe not and they're independently good enough to justify the cost and trouble in most cases. One thing I noticed though is that there are no 2P-cost cards, and just in general (and certainly in this set) there aren't too many +Buys, so getting stuck with two or more potions in a hand could be pretty rough. I have faith though.

In the BGG thread they claim that the rules suggest picking 3-5 Alchemy cards in the game if you plan to use any. Clearly to make the potions more worthwhile. This is of course easy: if you randomly draw 1 or 2 Alchemy cards in your set of 10, just pick a few more to replace a couple of non-alchemic ones. Or don't. There are often single cards in a set which no-one will touch because they have no synergy.

I think you wouldn't normally buy more than one or two potions anyway (I guess there are 16 in total, and that should suffice for 6 players). If you don't want to buy more potion-costing cards, then the potions become almost as bad as curses.

And durations are, indeed, awesome.

 

[AstroLad]

I'm gonna buy like 10. Gonna go all Village Idiot on everyone's ass. +Buy +Buy *BAM* Potion *gasp* *BAM* nother Potion *fainting all around the table*

I prefer winning by making others resign out of sheer awe rather than the whole anti-climactic "count-the-VPs" thing.

 

[jepense]

I've been thinking about it all day and I've come back around to thinking that the potion mechanic might be OK. If you buy one early on (maybe a potion/silver for an opening 4/3 split?), then you'll get that potion once per shuffle, and can use it to nab 4-5 nice actions, and that's probably sufficient for an entire game.

My thoughts exactly. You only need that one potion to get to the good stuff. Silver+silver is an ok opening; silver+potion may mean giving up one gold but getting one very powerful action instead on turn 3 or 4.

For the really expensive stuff, the difficult part is getting enough cash to go with the potion. Posession looks insane, but 6 coins + potion? You need serious gold or serious draw power to get that.

I'm gonna buy like 10. Gonna go all Village Idiot on everyone's ass. +Buy +Buy *BAM* Potion *gasp* *BAM* nother Potion *fainting all around the table*

I prefer winning by making others resign out of sheer awe rather than the whole anti-climactic "count-the-VPs" thing.

:lol Don't forget to buy workshops to make potions. My friend once played a heavy village-smithy-workshop combo that lead to... a huge deck full of villages, smithys and workshops. It would have been absolutely devastating if Garden were in play (but they weren't).

 

[platypotamus]

As for Dungeon Lords, i've played about 5 games now and while its a great game at points, i have my issues with it. First, playing with anything but 4 people sucks. Its hard to explain in words exactly how, but you have a phantom player who takes up resource spots and stuff if you aren't playing with 4, not to mention other little annoyances. Second, one wrong move can really end the game for you. For how long the game takes, one bad special event or resource mistake can really break the game and leave you out of contention before the game ever really picks up for you. Third, its really a solo game dressed in multiplayer, in that the only real interaction had with players is seeing what resources to go after. After that, you get your resources and deal with your dungeons and combat without any real interactions with your fellow players. Depending on the group, this is either fine or kinda boring. Still, its a very cool concept that still leads to relatively fun games.

Thanks for the impressions. A little scary since I will likely play it 2P most often due to length. Hmmmm.

Philosopher's Stone
Treasure
1P3C
When you play this, count your deck and discard pile. Worth 1 Coin per 5 Cards total between them (rounded down).

Wow, what a pain in the ass. :\

Scrying Pool
Action-Attack
1P2C
Each player (including you) reveals the top card of his deck and either discards it or puts it back, your choice. Then reveal cards from the top of your deck until you reveal one that is not an Action. Put all of your revealed cards into your hand.

Pretty similar to the Spy I guess? Can't remember his exact bonuses, but the attack is the same, yes?

Transmute
Action
1P
Trash a card from your hand. If it is an. . . Action card, gain a Duchy; Treasure card, gain a Transmute; Victory card, gain a Gold.

This is absolutely sick. Trash coppers to gain a Transmute. Trash any sort of cheap Actions to gain a duchy. Trash estates into gold? Absolutely ridiculously awesome.

Familiar
Action-Attack
1P3C
+1 Card, +1 Action. Each other player gains a Curse.

Good gravy a self-replacing attack card that gives curses? Relatively cheap too. This is perhaps the most brutal curse-giver yet.

Golem
Action
1P4C
Reveal cards from your deck until you reveal 2 Action cards other than a Golem card. Discard the other cards, then play the Action cards in either order.

I like the thought of this one. Buy 1 (maybe 2 of them), and then only 1 or 2 other action cards that pair well together (1 throne room + 1 smithy lets say). Golem = guaranteed draw and keep 6 cards from the Smithy. Hot.

 

[GDJustin]

For the really expensive stuff, the difficult part is getting enough cash to go with the potion. Posession looks insane, but 6 coins + potion? You need serious gold or serious draw power to get that.

Someone on BGG pointed out that you could use Apprentice to trash a Province and draw 8 cards. Trashing a province sounds like LUNACY, but think about it... you get to draw EIGHT.

With the proper deck make-up +8 cards could easily generate 16 gold & 2 buys, meaning two more provinces, ha. If you happened to draw something like Posession as part of your eight you could conceivably reach 24 gold.

 

[joeyjoejoeshabadoo]

Not sure if it's been mentioned here yet, or if everyone just thinks it sucks, but my wife and I have recently gotten into Gloom as our travel game. It's played with a deck of plastic cards, so it's very easy to transport, and works well with two players (but is also great with 4).

Essentially, you have a family of 5, and you play cards to lower their pathos or to raise the pathos of your opponent's family members. The object is to kill off your family with as low a pathos as possible. So far the game has proven to be very fun, and there's a nice variety of cards that have made sure that, even if someone is dominating, a win from behind is still possible. And, a benefit in my book, close games are not uncommon (my wife beat me by a single point last time).

In the picture above, 'the hands' are playing the red family, with one dead, with the green family (to the left) and the yellow family (to the right) having only one member still living each. Essentially, 'the hands' are screwed.
(image stolen from RPG.net)

Funny you should bring this up because my girlfriend and I just picked this up last night. We were looking for games to take with us to Hawaii next month so we picked up this, Cold War: CIA vs KGB, and ended up picking up the Agricola expansion for use at home. We played Gloom last night and we both enjoyed it. I absolutely love the artwork and some of the card descriptions got a chuckle out of us. My girlfriend absolutely loves games where she can screw her neighbor so this was really up her alley. The see through card mechanic works well but it can get a little confusing looking at the cards in your hand. (EX: It appears that you have a double pathos card when it's really just two cards stacked on each other.)

Cold War looks interesting. People on BGG call it a Blackjack variant and it seems that way. You are basically drawing numbered cards to equal the number on a given objective. If you "bust" you lose and the opponent gets the objective and the points. The twist is that each number card gives you certain abilities like taking cards from your opponent, looking at the next card in the deck and so on. There is also an element of bluffing where at the beginning of the round you chose from a deck of secret agents. Depending on which agent you pick determines how you will play the game. Each agent has their own special abilities that do various thing to effect who wins the objective. There is even an assassin who has the ability to kill another agent and remove them from the game permanently. The game seems super light but also seems interesting enough for the plane ride.

 

[jepense]

Pretty similar to the Spy I guess? Can't remember his exact bonuses, but the attack is the same, yes?

Yes, but it gives you a bonus of possibly multiple action cards in addition. Awesome if you go village heavy. Should be devastating with a conspirator deck.

This is absolutely sick. Trash coppers to gain a Transmute. Trash any sort of cheap Actions to gain a duchy. Trash estates into gold? Absolutely ridiculously awesome.

It's crazy. But you won't get to buy one as an opening ever, which prevents getting a massive head start with it.

Good gravy a self-replacing attack card that gives curses? Relatively cheap too. This is perhaps the most brutal curse-giver yet.

It's definitely the best curser, though I wouldn't call it cheap.

I like the thought of this one. Buy 1 (maybe 2 of them), and then only 1 or 2 other action cards that pair well together (1 throne room + 1 smithy lets say). Golem = guaranteed draw and keep 6 cards from the Smithy. Hot.

Two Smithies? Come on, think big! How about, Tactician and Library?

Someone on BGG pointed out that you could use Apprentice to trash a Province and draw 8 cards. Trashing a province sounds like LUNACY, but think about it... you get to draw EIGHT.

With the proper deck make-up +8 cards could easily generate 16 gold & 2 buys, meaning two more provinces, ha. If you happened to draw something like Posession as part of your eight you could conceivably reach 24 gold.

+8 cards could easily lead to 24 and 3 buys in some setups. Trashing Gold for +6 cards might sound more reasonable in many cases, though. Nothing bad in trashing Provinces! I've remodeled Provinces to Provinces several times if there was nothing better to do and I was in the lead.